A newly released video shows police officers’ disbelief when they learned the extent of the damage to Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed in March, and the dramatic moment a construction worker was safely brought to shore after being pulled from the water.
The video, released by the Baltimore Police Department this week to NBC affiliate WBAL Baltimore, shows officers’ shocked reactions after the massive structure was brought down.
The video begins with footage of an unidentified officer driving into the river in his patrol car with sirens blaring at 1:40 a.m. on March 26, just 11 minutes after the 100,000-ton cargo ship Dali crashed into the bridge supports after losing control of its steering.
The officer arrives at 1:48 a.m. and asks another officer who was already on the scene, “Is that the Key Bridge that collapsed?”
“Yes, it’s the whole bridge, a ship lost its direction and the whole bridge is in the river,” he replied.
The original officer, trying to take in the magnitude of the disaster, said, “I mean, that’s the Key Bridge… wow!”
Another officer says, “We got a call a minute before he crashed.” Then he adds, “This is going to be a terrible cleanup.”
The officer said there were workers on the bridge at the time of impact, and that “about 20, if not more” are missing.
Just before 2 a.m., officers learn that a person has been recovered from the water; moments later, a man wearing a high-visibility yellow jacket is seen on video.
It was later confirmed that he was Julio Cervantes Suarez, the only surviving member of the seven-person construction crew, all Latino men who had been friends for years and who were working through the night on the bridge.
Earlier this month, Cervantes told NBC News that he was in his truck when the bridge collapsed, leaving him neck-deep in water. He escaped through the vehicle’s window before shouting out the names of his coworkers. “I started calling each of them by name,” he said. “But no one answered me.”
“It’s a long drop,” one officer said of the missing construction workers. “I mean, that guy seemed fine, but it’s cold.”
Highlighting the scale of the disruption the bridge collapse caused in the region, another officer says at one point: “I have to find a new way home. I used to take it every day.”
The boat apparently struck one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the road to split in several places and fall into the water. Rescuers were searching for at least seven people in the water.
The Maryland Transportation Authority plans to use mechanical cutting tools and explosives to demolish what remains of the bridge.
Brian Wolfe, MDTA director of project development, said at a public hearing Thursday night that demolition work would begin in late fall and last several months, while plans remain underway to rebuild the bridge and reopen it in October 2028, WBAL reported.
